


Arlo

by B99fangirlnextdoor



Series: Arlo the Service Dog [1]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: AU, Amy and Rosa, Dealing with access issues, Dealing with weird MOP, F/F, Just all around livin' with a SD, Life with a service dog, Only that's a slow burn, Other, PTSD, References to jail / rape, not canon in the slightest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2020-01-23 06:52:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18544531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B99fangirlnextdoor/pseuds/B99fangirlnextdoor
Summary: Rosa's been waiting two years for this day to come.And finally, it's here._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________OR Rosa has PTSD and gets a service dog (Arlo ) to help with it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [themetgayla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/themetgayla/gifts).



> Welcome, one and all!
> 
> I've been in the AD/SD community for some time now, and I figure what way to best celebrate that than to write a fic about Rosa and her SD?
> 
> Honestly, this is going to be very cute, very fluffy, maybeee a lil' springling of smut here and there, some themes might get a touch dark, but I'll TW as needed.
> 
>  
> 
> Please leave kudus and comments. I live for feedback.
> 
> Also, if you guys want to see what Rosa / Amy are like with Rosa's nightmares, then go ahead and check out 'till it happens to you. This would be related only Amy and Rosa aren't together yet.
> 
> Theoretically set after S7, only Jake & Amy aren't married, and Rosa's *just* got Arlo
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Also, FYI, if anyone has any questions about AD/SDs, training, care, the law, ect I'm happy to help. I know both irish, english, scottish, N irish, welsh and US law

Rosa was awoken by a warm, wet tongue. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sat bolt upright, gasping for breath. All of a sudden, the room lit up, and a warm weight wriggled onto her lap, licking at her hands as it leaned into her. Slowly, Rosa began to realise she wasn't in prison anymore. She was here, at home, with Arlo. She was safe.

* * *

 

Rosa Diaz doesn't cry. Except for during nightmares and panic attacks. Nobody knows about that though. So it was a blessed relief to cry at something that wasn't depressing as fuck. Although if anyone found out she'd kill them.

Rosa had been waiting for almost two years to be paired with a dog, and now the day had finally come to meet him. The minute the yellow lab was walked into the small side room Rosa lost it. She hopes to God nobody was filming her as she dropped to the floor to sob into Arlo's soft fur.

After a while, tears and cuddles turned into a game of rough and tumble. The trainers didn't approve but Rosa told them to fuck off. Arlo was her dog now, and if she wanted to play with him, then she was going to.

Over the next few weeks, the pair trained together in different environments. Arlo was a dickwad. He did his job, and he did it well, exceptionally well, but he was very independent and liked to make his own desitions. That could be both helpful (Breaking a down - stay to go alert Rosa) and a nightmare (Using his newfound knowledge of doors to take himself out for a walk whenever he wanted) Rosa, however, didn't care. She liked his personality and enjoyed the challenge of having to try to outsmart him sometimes.

* * *

 

It was three weeks later when they had their first access refusal. Rosa had been home just a week and had yet to return to work. She had told everyone it was none of their fucking business where she was going on holiday. The only person who knew was the captain, who'd encouraged her to take as much time off as she needed to adjust to her new partner, and assured her that when she was ready, Arlo would be welcome at work. Which, at the time, Rosa had taken for granted.

"Sorry, Ma'am, no dogs."  
Rosa spun around to face the mall security guard, glaring at him "He's a service dog. You have to let him in by law."

The security guard shook his head "Sorry, we only allow blind dogs or dogs to help disabled people."

Rosa sighed. Part of her wanted to keep going, but the other part told her that wasn't a good idea. So she turned around and forced herself to make eye contact as Arlo looked up at her, and stood up, moving into a 'block' - the first part of an alert. "I am disabled. He is trained to assist me."

The guard looked at Rosa, then at Arlo "Do you have papers for it?"

Rosa growled softly, thinking back to all of the practice refusal scenarios she'd done at the training centre. Taking a deep breath, she recited what she'd been told to say in case this ever happened. "In the US, there is no such thing as registration. You can easily buy IDs online for about $50, but this has no legal validity, nor does it guarantee that the dog is trained, and you can't ask for them. Under the ADA there are two questions you may ask 1) is that a service dog, required by a disability and 2) What task or tasks is it trained to perform? Anything else is illegal."

" Yeah, I get that, but the last woman who came in with her dog had an ID, and I've been told not to let anyone in unless they have one or are blind or in a wheelchair."

That was it. Rosa needed to snap this guys neck over her leg. Stepping forward, her facade dropped as she glared daggers into the guard's eyes. Behind him, a small crowd had gathered around to gawp at what was happening, but nobody was saying anything. "Say that again." She growled, hand coming out to clutch at his tabard.

Arlo whined as he paced from paw to paw, trying to wriggle inbetween the guard and Rosa. This wasn't good. This really wasn't good. He was pretty sure he was meant to do something, but none of what he was trained to do was working. He needed to get Rosa's attention somehow. He knew he was never, in any circumstances allowed to jump up. He also knew that in under no circumstances should he let Rosa ignore him. So it was a trade-off.

Rosa yelped softly as Arlo bounced up on her, pushing her back as the world around her spun. Not here, she begged. Not here, where everyone can see me.

The watching crowd were whispering between themselves. What an ill-behaved dog they said. She can't be disabled. It must be a fake. Real service dogs only serve the blind.

It was getting a lot harder to breathe. Rosa grabbed onto Arlo's collar, muttering a gasped half-hearted scolding as he rested his paws on Rosa's shoulders. Rosa's knees buckled, colliding with the laminate underneath her at an alarming pace, but nobody moved. Not even when her body followed suit.

_"Ma'am? Could you please get up and leave? If you do not comply force will be used."_

* * *

  
_Is she on drugs? I don't know. Maybe she's having an episode? What, and that's what the dog's for? I don't know, maybe. What does its vest say? Just things like don't pet. Is there something in its pocket? No, there's not. Maybe we should call someone then? Yeah, think we should, she doesn't look good either way._

Rosa found herself lying on the concrete outside the mall around forty minutes later. She wasn't sure how the fuck she got there, and she didn't want to know. She groaned as she tried to sit up, the floor wasn't exactly a comfortable place to rest, and it was cold here. Arlo whined, and shuffled up to her chest, indicating for her to stay down. Rosa's head hurt. So did her body. Come to think of it, everything hurt. She just wanted to go to sleep and forget that this whole event ever happened. But she couldn't. People were gawping, phones out as they took pictures and videos. Normally, she'd have broken their necks, but right now, she had no energy to do so.

"Yeah, can we have an ambulance please?"

Rosa groaned again. "I don't need an ambulance, I'm fine." Nobody listened. It was like she was invisible. Just a heavy lump of lifeless clothes on the floor.  
No.

Screw that.

She was Rosa Diaz.

Rosa clicked her fingers in an indication for Arlo to climb off, but he did no such thing. "Go on, dog, move," she grumbled, giving Arlo a shove as a woman nearby gasped, muttering something to her boyfriend about dog abuse. Sighing, Rosa shoved him harder, and Arlo reluctantly climbed off as Rosa sat herself up, glaring at the guy on the phone. "I don't need a fucking ambulance." She stood up, staggering towards him "And if you call one anyway, you're paying." The guy hesitated, looking Rosa up and down before nodding and hanging up.

"You try to be nice these days."

Rosa rolled her eyes "Uh-huh. Don't care. Scram" She turned to the rest of the crowd "That goes for all of you. Move, or I break your necks."

Rosa sighed contentedly to herself as everyone hastily retreated. That was better. Looking down at the yellow labrador who was looking far to pleased with himself, she smiled, pausing briefly to check nobody was watching before undoing Arlo's vest and stuffing it her inside pocket, and pulling out a long, matted piece of rope.

The two played tug o' war until the rope gave out, which disappointed both Rosa and Arlo equally. "I'll buy you a new one." Rosa resolved as Arlo stared at what was left of the rope in confusion. One final sniff of the scattered pieces of rope and Arlo looked up at his handler. "Come on dipshit, let's go home."

* * *

 

Slowly, Rosa got used to being out with a dog. The stares. The questions. The dead dog stories. The occasional, but always brutal refusals. At first, she'd tried to be polite; Arlo's trainer was not one for 'coarseness', but in the end, Rosa settled into a very familiar pattern of threatening to kill anyone who came within six feet of them unless specifically invited, which, for the record, wasn't going to happen. As time went on, Rosa came to understand that it was a case of realising that when you're a dog with you, it's going to take half an hour more to do anything.

As much as Rosa could internally whinge about all the freaks and weirdos she met on a day to day basis, she couldn't deny that Arlo had changed her life for the better. She was sleeping, eating, getting out. She wasn't having as many nightmares, and she no longer got scared when returning home, because she trusted Arlo to do a thorough sweep of the apartment and tell her if anyone was there.

And now, for the first time since she got Arlo, she was ready to return to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Rosa couldn't sleep. There were just 6 hours before she was due in at the prescient. It wasn’t so much the thought of finally returning to work that was bothering her, more she’d never been to work with a dog before. She knew nearly everyone was going to want to ask about Arlo, and that was fine, but she’d only had him for a few weeks and already Rosa was beginning to tire of the endless repetitive questions. Would they see her as a different person now she had Arlo? He was basically a giant walking sign that screamed I HAVE A DISABILITY and Rosa didn’t like that one bit. Should she do an announcement in morning briefing? Should she vest him? What about allergies? How was working going to work?

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a wet nose and a warm, heavy body coming to wiggle onto her chest. Arlo lay down and sighed contentedly, his legs kicking out behind him as he whipped the end of the bed with his tail, making a reassuring thumping noise that eventually lulled Rosa into a deep slumber. Seeing his handler fall asleep, Arlo closed his eyes and dozed off himself, his tail finally coming to a rest against the oak frame of Rosa’s bed as his body sagged against Rosa’s.

* * *

Rosa sighed to herself as she emptied the contents of her black leather bag onto the bed for the sixth time that morning, rifling through the various dog-related equipment with her free hand. She was sure she was missing something, although she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly. She had his vest, his booties, two bowls, several bottles of water, poop bags, a rope toy and…that was it. She was forgetting his lunch ration of kibble and treats. She’d already sat out sanwhich bags of preweighed food for Arlo by his bowl on the windowsill, so all she had to do was pick one of them up and grab a few packets of treats just in case.  Rosa decided to carry Arlo's vest in her bag. Picking up her keys, she and Arlo left the apartment in tandem, Arlo holding his lead in his mouth as he walked beside Rosa in a tight heel. Too tight, probably, not that Rosa noticed until she ended up sprawled across the hallway carpet. Before she had a chance to react, Arlo had her bag in his mouth and was already tearing down the corridor. Growling, Rosa lept to her feet and raced after her dog “Dickwad! Get back here!”

  
  
  
  


Rosa found Arlo on a neighbours’ fire escape, tucking into the contents of her bag, ziplocks and all, tail thumping the staircase at what seemed to be a million miles an hour.  Sighing, she ducked through the window, reaching for the Labradors’ collar “I swear to God mutt, if I have to take you to the vet because you’re too thick to tell what’s plastic and what’s food, I will-” 

 

“Can I help you?”

 

Rosa stopped trying to prize what remained of a ziploc bag out of Arlos’ mouth and spun around, her free hand still firmly gripping his collar. Behind her was Ms Merchichan, a woman in her mid-90s’, who was suddenly a lot more confused than normal thanks to the unexpected guests on her fire escape. Rosa looked down at Arlo, who grinned back up at her, tail still going. For a moment, nobody said anything, but then the old lady took a few steps closer, lifting her glasses from around her neck and squinting through them. “Oh! Dectective Diaz! I didn’t know it was you!” Rosa inwardly groaned, praying nobody overheard the old lady who was practically yelling both her name and her job at the top of her lungs.”Come in, come in, I’ve been meaning to return that bag of sugar you loaned me…”

  
  


* * *

Rosa frog marched Arlo down to the car, chewed backpack slung over one shoulder. He’d reverted back into angel dog, as if he knew he’d completely and utterly fucked up to the point if it was anyone else's’ apartment he’d ran through, he’d be sent back to the training centre and Rosa would be homeless. Sighing, she opened the car door for Arlo, watching as he lept in enthusiastically. She had yet to get a sidecar for her bike so Arlo could tag along too, for now though, she was content with driving when she needed to take him with her, and going out for the occasional ride while Arlo slept at home.

* * *

 

Rosa had intended to arrive at work early in case she had a panic attack, but after the fire escape debacle earlier, she’d have to run upstairs to be in the bullpen on time. She knew he was up for it, but whether she wanted to be seen charging into the bullpen without good reason was another matter. 

 

“Hey, Rosa!”

 

Rosa nearly jumped out of her skin when Charles tapped on her car window, grinning broadly. “Who’s the pooch?” Rosa looked down at the yellow labrador who had wriggled his way onto her lap. “When did you get him? Is that why you’ve been off? You know, when I got my first, I was off for an enti-” Rosa groaned to herself, reaching for the door handle, opening the door into Charles’ thigh and stepping out, Arlo in tow. “His name’s Arlo, he’s my service dog.I’ve had him a few weeks. ” Charles’ mouth worked, his face contorting into one of both excitement and joy. “Anything else is none of your fucking business, and if you ask, I will decapitate you.” Charles backed off, mouth still working as Rosa slammed the car door behind her, striding off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosa adjusts to life at work with an SD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! I'm suffering from MAJOR writers' block!

Arlo whined as Rosa marched her way through the lobby. “Shut up mutt.” Rosa hissed, all too aware of her colleges staring at her, or more specifically, the yellow labrador by her side, tail wagging and tongue loling out from the side of his mouth. Rosa didn’t mind the staring; she’d since got used to that, but this was a completely different feeling. These were work colleagues. She could practically hear their judgmental whispers through the stares.  _ Rosa Diaz, disabled? No fucking way. I bet she just wants to take her pet everywhere. _ It had only been ten seconds, and already Arlo had broken his heel so he could circle Rosa in a moving block, keeping people well away. She couldn’t have a panic attack. Not here. She was meant to be working. Not fucking around on the floor. “Hey! Rosa!” Boyle panted as he ran over to her, clutching her car keys. “You dropped these.” Rosa turned around from where she was stood waiting for the lift, Arlo in a block between her and Charles as he ran up to her. Passing the keys over, he smiled “It’s good to see you back.” He went in for a hug, but Arlo was on it, standing steady as he got closer. Charles stepped back, hands held up in surrender “Sorry forgot the Rosa rule.” Rosa brushed it off with a simple shrug as the lift doors pinged open. 

 

“So, how was the weekend?” 

 

Rosa despised small talk, but she was so very glad of the distraction when the lift doors opened, revealing all of her friends milling around. “Hey! Look who’s back!” Jake grinned, opening his arms wide as Rosa walked out of the lift, Boyle and Arlo in tow. “How was Montreal?” Rosa paused for a minute, looking down at Arlo, then back up at Jake. “I was in California. Arlo and I just got paired.” A look of obvious confusion crossed Jakes’ face. Who was Arlo? Was he some strange, mystical boyfriend? “The dog, Jake.” Jake looked down, nearly jumping out of his skin “Oh! Cool! I didn’t know you were allowed to have pets in here.” Rosa hesitated, noting how curious colleagues were coming closer, staring, pointing, whispering. Some were close enough to be mouthing out what Arlos’ vest said. “We’re not.” Rosa looked up to see Holt standing behind Jake. “ Arlo is a service dog. He is medical equipment, and is to be treated as such while he’s here.” Jakes’ eyes flirted from Rosa to Arlo, to Holt “What? I thought…” Rosa glared at him, bracing herself as Arlo began circling her again. “I’ve PTSD.” The entire bullpen fell silent as Rosa dipped her head slightly. “Jail was tough, and I still struggle with it. That’s why I have him.” 

 

Jake grinned awkwardly, shuffling about in his place “‘You’ve - Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cooolioo-” Rosa interrupted him “Jake.” Jake stopped rambling and looked up “Want to pet him?” He nodded, watching as Rosa slid Arlos’ vest over his head and whispered “Go free.” to him. Shaking himself, the yellow lab set off, sniffling the floors, desks, peoples shoes, before coming to a stop at Jakes’ feet, plonking his butt down and swishing his tail. Reaching down to pet; Jake smiled. He was really glad Arlo was going to be here from now on.

 

* * *

It was 3pm when Rosa spotted Amy standing in the corner of the bullpen, hand over her mouth as she dithered by the gate. By then, everyone had had the chance to pet Arlo, and work had gone back to almost normal; in a way Rosa was lucky she was a detective because people were used to seeing K9 units wandering around from time to time and it was more the idea of Rosa Diaz being disabled people were getting used to. But Amy was the one person Rosa had worried about before even considering applying for Arlo. The ADA stated if a person with allergies and a person with a service dog were in the same area, both needed to be accommodated, and adjustments were to be made to ensure the safety of all, but Rosa didn’t really want to go about her life without ever seeing Amy again. So when she did turn up, Rosa had a hard time containing her excitement.

  
  


It was a painfully slow shuffle over to Rosas’ desk, awkward eye contact was made and Amy slowly removed her hand from her mouth, taking a few deep breaths to make sure she could indeed breathe. “The captain told me you’d got paired with Arlo, so I decided to trial some new meds to see if it helped.” Rosa nodded curtly “Tight.” Amy was just about to say something when Charles wheeled over, sporting an abnormally large grin as he whistled. “Walk away Boyle,” Rosa warned, brandishing a knife from her desk. Charles retreated but kept grinning, making kissy faces at the two of them. Rolling her eyes, Amy turned back to Rosa “I’d better get back to work, but it was nice seeing you.” Rosa barely had the chance to reply before she was gone. From under the desk, Arlo stood up and whined, head resting on Rosa’s knee. “I know dog. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

 


	4. Chapter 4

As the weeks passed, Rosa grew increasingly used to the idea of having a dog with her. She had got accustomed to the stares, photographs, weird questions and dead dog stories within a few weeks of having Arlo, but there was something... different about depending on a mutt for her safety. Something beyond the reaction of the people around her, and she wasn't sure what it was, but regardless she could feel it. So when this feeling starting tapering off, life became that bit easier.  It was now commonplace to find random toys, bags of treats and rolls of poop bags in all sorts of weird places, including, apparently, every drawer in her desk, every hiding place, every nook and cranny in her home. Sometimes the treats weren't even in a bag, they were lose, and very stale. Not that Arlo cared. He dove in there without a second of hesitation before Rosa could stop him.

 

So, naturally, a few months down the line, armed with the feeling of normalcy and courage, Rosa resumed her normal social life. Or at least she tried to. She didn't stay out as long as she normally would, thanks to Arlo not being some form of super dog able to work 24/7, but she supposed that saved her a few hundred dollars and a pregnancy scare at the very least. But even with that factor excluded, People stared. And not in the 'omg she's hot af' way she was used to. They'd come over, start chatting Rosa up, then see Arlo, and make a hasty exit. The practicalities of having a one night stand with a dog in tow were a little... complex to say the least, and everyone seemed to be too aware of this for thier own good. With a kong, Rosa was convinced Arlo could be left for an hour or two while she fucked someone a few rooms down, but apparently, nobody was especially keen on the idea. Now she was alone, all the couples in the world seemed to have come out to flaunt their happiness and active sex lives in her face. Rosa wasn't sure why she cared; she didn't need another person to make her happy.

 

That didn't explain how she ended up agreeing to let Gina set her up.

 

* * *

 Amy grimaced as her stomach knotted underneath her desk, squeezing and releasing rhythmically. Shuffling in her seat, she crossed her legs, fumbling in her drawer for her electric hot water bottle. Opposite her, Jake looked up, his curiosity peaked "What's going on with your face? You kinda look like you want to murder someone."  Amy groaned, her free arm wrapping around her stomach "That's because I do, genius." For a moment, Jakes' expression remained blank, but slowly, the realisation of what was going on dawned on him "Urah! Amy! That's gross!" Amy fixed him with an unwavering glare while her fingers worked to plug the charger in. "You really think it's wise to piss me off right now, Peralta?" The entire bullpen stopped dead in its tracks. Amy swore. Amy Santiago swore. Growling, Amy stood up, and grabbed her purse, yelling "It's just a period people!" over her shoulder as she marched to the bathroom.

"Oh!" Amy yelped, spinning around and shielding her eyes from a semi-naked Rosa, the bathroom door hitting her in the back "I'm sorry- I - I didn't know you were in her-"  Rosa cut her off with a roll of her eyes as she pulled a navy top over her head. "It's fine, Santiago. We're both girls."  Amy uncovered her eyes, but didn't move from where she was stood in the doorway, eyes fixed firmly on the floor "But... you're bi."  "So?" Came the reply "Just because I'm into girls doesn't mean I'm going to fuck you because you've seen me in my underwear." Amy pulled a face "That's not ... I didn't mean..." She sighed. This was going well. "In or out, Amy. I don't care, as long as you close that door before Hitchcock sees me." Amy hesitated for a second. On one side of the door, the entirety of the bullpen would be waiting for her.  On the other, she'd be alone in the bathroom with a semi-naked Rosa. "Just get in here already!" Satisfied that was the best option, Amy nodded, heading into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

Now what? Asked Amy's brain. She had been planning on changing her pad, but there was no way she could do that, not with Rosa, hot, smart, sexy Rosa in the same room as her. "You came in here to stare at the walls?" Rosa asked, pulling up a pair of black leather pants over her toned legs. Breaking eye contact with the wall, Amy forced a smile "Nah, I came in here to..." she paused, fiddling around in her purse before pulling out a dated eyeliner "Practice makeup." Rosa scoffed at that "Seriously, Santiago? You expect me to believe that's why you're in here?" Amy shrugged, standing in front of the mirror and shaking the cracked container in her hands. The liquid inside was somehow both clumpy and gooey, but Amy attempted to use it anyway. Rosa watched for a moment as she did up her belt, bemused. 

"You sure you don't need these?" Rosa asked after a while, holding out a couple of spare tampons from her rucksack. Amy put the eyeliner down and accepted them, thankful she didn't have to continue her pretence of applying eyeliner. "How did you know?" Rosa scoffed "I'm a detective. Arlo was scenting like mad and I'm on too." Amy blinked, only just noticing the yellow labrador curled up in the corner. "Cool." Rustling her hair, Rosa slung her rucksack over one shoulder, "Come on, dipshit, let's go." Arlo instantly stood up, shaking himself off before following his handler out of the bathroom, leaving Amy stood staring after them. 

"Now how do I?..." Amy mumbles, looking down at the tampons in her hand.

 

(Hopefully, IT doesn't track officers' browsing history)

* * *

 

 Rosa sighed to herself as he walked down the street, trying to follow her damn phone's satnav. Arlo was trotting beside her, shoulder glued to her leg in a tight heel, subtly taking in all of the delicious smells that floated around in Brooklyn smog. Stopping, Rosa glanced around her. According to her dumb phone, they were here, and while she could see the restaurant, she couldn't see her date. She was debating calling Gina when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you must be Rosa?" 

For a horrible second, a tight feeling of panic closes off her lungs, and all of a sudden shes gripping Arlo's lead so tight she's convinced she's going to dislocate her fingers.

But then he lets go and comes around where she can see him, and the feeling subsides. It's fine, she tells herself. Totally fine. She's not going to have a panic attack or flashback and it's going to be fine. She chants this in her head as he leans in for an awkward hug, planting a kiss on her ear while Arlo tried to get between them in an attempt to earn Rosa some personal space.

But then he backs off again, smiling down at Arlo and throwing his arms around his neck "And this has got to be Arlo!" Arlo wags his tail uncertainly,  allowing this strange person to squeeze his neck just a little bit too tightly. And then she really can breathe and it really is going to be fine, and her personality is coming flooding back. "And you are?" Rosa asks, her tone sharp as she uses her free hand to prize him off her dog. Standing up, the guy offers his hand "Mark. I'm a friend of Gina's." Rosa inhales sharply. What had her coworker landed her in this time? "Anyway, we've got a reservation, so shall we?" He asks, gesturing towards the restaurant behind him, only it's not really a question at all. Rosa considers turning him down for a moment, but apart from the over-eager greeting, he was... nice looking, seemed friendly, and liked her dog. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know how to approach her. "Sure."

* * *

 

"So," Mark starts as he wipes the remainder of Lassana off his lips "Spill the beans. Where did you get Arlo's vest?" Rosa's small smile instantly vanishes as a painfully cold sensation runs through her body. "Because I've seen a few sites that do them, but none of them are as nice as that, you know?" Rosa looks down at her dog, who's peacefully asleep under the table, and tries to quench the niggling feeling in her stomach that makes her want to break this guys' neck. "What do you mean?" Mark takes a slurp of beer "Well, I mean it's obvious from chatting with you that you're not really disabled, and all of the registries that do vests and things without checking don't do vests that nice. How did you convince an actual vest maker to make you a vest?"

Rosa gulped, her hands curling into fists under the table as Arlo bumped her leg with her nose.  "Arlo is a real service dog. I am really disabled. That's how I convinced them to make us a vest." Mark grins "You don't need to hide your secret here babe, I get it, I want my dog to come with me places too." Rosa grips the chair underneath her so hard her nails penetrate the wood. "Go." She rasps out, fighting to stay in control. "Oh come on babe, don't be like th-" With one fluid movement, Rosa is on her feet, hand seizing his neck as she fixes him with an unwavering glare. "I'm not your babe. Arlo is a real service dog, who performs real tasks. They are the only reason I'm not ripping your ableist little head off and shoving it where the sun doesn't shine." She grips him tighter for a second, revelling in the way his eyes bulge the more she squeezes, before releasing him. "Now, fuck off."  He makes a prompt retreat, and Rosa slumps back into her chair, which Arlo takes as a signal to jumps across her lap, holding her steady as she digs her nails into the chair wood once more.

 

* * *

 

 

It's forty-five minutes later when Arlo guides Rosa out into the cool world outside. Rosa's hot, and shaking and she still can't believe what a fucking disaster that was. Lowering herself down against a wall,  she takes a few deep yet shaky breaths. She needs to get home, only she was stupid enough to let Gina drop her off, and her car was 14 blocks away. She can't walk that. Can she? Arlo would definitely be up for it, Rosa was sure of that, and she didn't really want to embarrass herself by asking someone to drive her home. But then again she was.. tired... and angry, and bleeding. Wait, she was bleeding? When had that happened?  

Arlo whined softly, leaning his weight into Rosa's chest and licking the blood off her hand. "Stop it dog. That's gross." Arlo ignored her, still determinedly licking "Arlo!" The yellow lab stopped licking and looked up at her, confused. Rosa instantly felt bad for yelling. Maybe her dog did have a point. Maybe she should call someone. Sighing, Rosa dug her phone out with her good hand and started scrolling through her contacts. She didn't want to speak to any of her family. Her dad especially would go crazy. Jake was out on a stakeout with Charles and Terry. Gina was at dance rehearsals, and Hitchcock and Scully were... gross. That left a choice of Holt or Amy. Looking down at Arlo, she showed him the phone "What do you think?"

 

She instantly felt insane for asking a dogs' opinion on the situation.

* * *

 

"I'm so sorry it took so long to get here; traffic was madness!" Amy gushed, kneeling down next to Rosa and Arlo.  "Oh wow, that... that doesn't look good. Are you sure you don't want an ambul-" Rosa cut her off "What did we say on the phone?" Amy rolled her eyes, pulling a bandage out of her bag "No ambulances." Rosa nodded curtly. "I don't have time for that bullshit." She paused for a moment, eyes falling to Amy's chest, before shoving Arlo off her lap and holding her hand out, letting Amy wrap her hand up. "This is just temporary until we get back to mine, okay?" Rosa nodded, fixing her gaze on the night sky. The smog was too thick to see any stars, but it was still pretty, and oh so Brooklyn. "There," Amy mumbled, standing up "You okay to walk to the car?" Rosa scoffed "Last time I checked I didn't walk on my hands, Santiago." 

*

Amy was pleasantly surprised to find out that Arlo was just as well behaved in a car as the prescient, curling himself up in the footwell between Rosa's legs, and keeping his slobber to himself. Even so, she decided to take her tablets to be on the safe side. "I can give you the money to have the car cleaned if you want." Rosa offered, handing Amy a bottle of water from her rucksack as she popped her tablets in her mouth. Amy shook her head, accepting the water and swallowing after a swig.  "It's fine. I'm good." Rosa raised an eyebrow "You sure? I can Vemo you the money now if you want?" Amy nodded, started up the engine "Honestly Rosa, I'm fine. I've been hanging around with you guys for a few months and with my meds, I've yet to react."

 

"Okay fine, but if you keel over on me, I will kill you before anaphylaxis does, understood?" 

"That doesn't make any sens-"

"Understood?"

"... loud and clear, Rosa."

* * *

 

 Out of all of the things that had gone wrong that night, Rosa finally got to test her kong theory with Arlo. To prevent the irreparable damage of Rosas' bag, it was only stuffed with treats, but Amy managed to find some peanut butter to seal it off with. "Take it." She said, placing the kong on the floor, much to Arlo's delight  "I don't like peanut butter anyway."  Rosa snorted "How come you got it in your cupboard then?"  Amy hesitated, her cheeks flushing pink "I... wanted to learn to cook. I know Arlo really likes peanut butter, so I figured I'd start out by making doggy biscuits for him. I would've done it already, only I was kind of paranoid about poisoning your dog, and eventually, I forgot about it." Rosa looked at her partner, then down at the peanut butter jar in front of her as a warm tingly feeling ran through her. Pushing the feeling down, Rosa turned around and began wandering in the direction of the bathroom, leaving the peanut butter on the side. "Cool. Did you say the steri strips were in the bathroom?"

 *

"Hold still!"

Rosa growled softly "I am holding still. You're the one moving my hand" Amy shook her head  "How did you get this many splinters in your fingertips anyway?" She  asked, pulling the final one out and dabbing at the blood spot with a piece of gaze "Surely this must have hurt?" Rosa shrugged as her partner gave her 'good' hand back "Not really." Although that tough facade was betrayed by an irritatingly loud squeal when Amy unwrapped the bandage on her other hand. Sucking her teeth, Amy poured hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton ball and dabbed at the cuts over Rosas' palms. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you crushed a glass or something." Rosa snorted, tilting her head back in an attempt to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes "Good job you know better then." Amy chose not to respond to this, instead focusing her attention on making sure there was no debris in the wound "Was it? A glass I mean?" Rosa shook her head. "Because if it is there could be bits of glass that I can't see stuck in there, and it could give you an i-" "Infection. I know." Amy was surprised for a millisecond, but then remembered Rosa's medical past. "Why don't you want to go to the hospital?"  She tried, still not looking up. "No reason." Amy sighed, pressing one side of the cut where she was sure she could see something, making Rosa yelp and yank her hand away "What the hell, Santiago? That hurt!" Amy just raised an eyebrow "We need to go to hospital. If you don't want me to call an ambulance, fine, I'll drive you, but we're going."  Rosa recoiled further, trying to keep her breathing in check as Arlo charged into the bathroom,  wiggling between her and Amy before leaping onto her lap and licking her face.

 

Amy cleared any dangers and backed off instantly. She'd seen Arlo work before, but not like this. For some reason, the hospital was setting off... something in Rosa, and the detective in her wanted to know what and why. Luckily for Rosa, the decent friend in her, was prioritising staying out of the way and letting Arlo work in peace.

 

*

"So what is it about the hospital you hate so much?" Amy whispered half an hour later as she handed Rosa a glass of water. "You wouldn't understand." Amy shuffled a little closer "Try me." Rosa paused for a moment, focusing on the yellow labrador in her lap, fumbling with his collar, before speaking "If I go to hospital, they'll prescribe me pain meds, and they tend to make me feel really out of it." Amy nodded slowly, the realisation of Rosa being human dawning on her, "What if Arlo and I stay with you? He can watch you and I can watch the door?" Rosa hesitated, looking down at her hand "If that goes septic, you'll be in a lot worse of a state and on more pain meds." Sighing, Rosa agreed. "Okay. But you're not leaving me." Amy grins, sitting up and crossing her hear with a finger "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"You still do that? What are you? Six?"

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy learns both the ups and downs of having a service dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all
> 
> This is shorter than I wanted it to be but if you read through it you'll see towards the end it gets a little.. lacking. I had to stop because I wasn't feeling well, and I'd you want some irony my own assistance dog was alerting. It will be updated properly soon.
> 
>  
> 
> Please dont eat me for things featured in this fic, I know having a dog isn't a game or something to do or get for amusement and bragging rights but this isn't real life. Although I will admit I've had someone else handle my dog in pet friendly areas unmarked aside from gear they needed to experience it, just so they got a feel for what it was like 
> 
>  
> 
> TW for agression and an attack- Amy and Arlo do get attacked in this chapter but they aren't hurt and it doesn't go into gory details. 
> 
>  
> 
> Okay, well enjoy all - next chapter will come soon and il be very fluffy and it'll ft Rosa on pain meds ❤️

"Okay, so Brooklyn Methodist no longer takes our works' insurance for accide-"

 

"I don't use insurance." Amy looked up from her phone, blinking "What?" Rosa shrugged "I prefer to pay out of pocket unless it's a really big operation or something." Amy looked over at the bathroom wall, her brain trying to compute why Rosa would choose to pay for something when she could get it heavily discounted. "How do you even afford- you know what, I'm not going to ask." "Good." There's a long pause in which nobody, including Arlo, moves or even makes a sound. "We should get going." Amy mutters, still not making any attempt to move. Rosa isn't sure if she's talking to herself or to the room, but just in case she was expecting some sort of response she stands up "I'm not the one holding us up." 

 

Amy spends a few minutes fussing around what to take with her. It's a Friday night, so both she and Rosa were going to need some entertainment because they were likely going to be waiting forever. She didn't know what Rosa liked to do for entertainment (that was legal, anyway) but she packed a few books for herself and a silent chew toy and a couple of homemade treats she'd secretly bought for Arlo. If Rosa was really bored she could always take Arlo out on a potty break or something. "Amy come on! I want to get to the hospital _before_ I die of old age."  Amy grinned to herself, grabbing a spare set of keys and her headphones off her bedside table "I'm coming!" _Title of my sex tape_ , she thinks, and flushes bright red.

 

"I think you're missing the kitchen sink," Rosa states dryly as Amy hurries through to where she was stood waiting in the living room. "Ha-ha, very funny." Amy grumbles collecting her actual keys of the key hook. Rosa opens the door for her automatically, waiting for Amy to walk through before wondering through herself, Arlo in tow. "Are you driving or am I?" Amy rolls her eyes as she locks her front door. "You really think I'd trust you with my brand new car with only the one hand?" Rosa shrugs "Why not?"

 

* * *

 

 Amy witters on about the history of the hospital as she drives along the wet roads, her windscreen wipers working hard to keep the late evening rain from blocking her view. Rosa's got her feet up on the dashboard above Arlo. Amy doesn't care. She would if it was anyone else, but with Rosa, she was just glad that she was comfortable. "...But anyway, I'm sure you don't care about James or his frien-" "No." Rosa states "Keep going. I like it when you talk dorky shit." Amy blushes, dipping her head slightly but is careful not to take her eyes off the road. "Okay, well if you're sure..."

 

It's not a far journey to the hospital, but to Amy, at least, it seems to be over far too quickly.

*

"Hey, do you... um... mind being Arlos' handler? Just while we're in the hospital?" Amy stops getting out of the car and swings her legs back into the footwell, closing the door so she's not splattered by the rain. "What do you mean?" She asks, knowing full well what Rosa meant, and feeling more than a little overwhelmed that Rosa would trust her with such an important creature. "He only works on the left-hand side of me and I can't hold the lead with my bad hand. He tries to cross over if I put him on my right. Normally I'd just have him off-lead, but we're going into a hospital, and it's good practice to have him on lead just in case there's dangers or people who are allergic or whatever." Amy looks down at Arlo, who's apparently sleeping soundly in Rosas' footwell. "You don't have to, I can have him off lead, but I thought I'd ask." Taking a deep breath, Amy nods. Rosa smiles then, not just a little, but a lot. "Thanks, Amy."

 

There's a pause before Rosa shakes herself out of whatever hippy-dippy expression was on her face and roots through her bag, pulling out a black leather leash, still in its packaging, some wipes, Arlos' vest, and what looked to be another leather leash in its packaging, but shorter with two clips on the end. "I know you've not reacted to him yet, and you've taken your meds, but I wanted to be safe, just in case a situation like this ever came up."  Amy raised an eyebrow "You knew this would happen?" Rosa shook her head "15% of the population are allergic to dogs. I bath Arlo regularly and carry wipes on me, but I wanted to be extra safe where you're involved. Not just because you're a damn good Sargent, but because you're also my friend. I love Jake, but he's not you, and I'd be pretty pissed at myself if I killed you." Amy stared, her cheeks flushing a dark shade of pink as her heart fluttered against her ribcage. In nearly a decade of friendship (okay, a decade of knowing her, half a decade of friendship), she'd never seen Rosa be this... vulnerable with anyone else. Not even Pimento. 

 

Rosa doesn't say anything as she single-handedly (literally) wiped Arlos' gear down, careful to not cross-contaminate, and put it on him. "You ready?" She asks, and Amy just nods, too warm and tingly to say anything. Thankfully, the air outside was cold, and the rain was still pelting it down. She was in the middle of trying to find her umbrella in the backseat of the car when all of a sudden, Amys' back was no longer getting doused in cold water. Shuffling backwards slightly, she looked up to see Rosa holding an umbrella over her "Not like you to be disorganised, Santiago." She smirked. "I left the prescient in a hurry, and besides it wasn't even raining then!" She protested, completely mortified at being, as her friend ever so eloquently put it, disorganised. "Chill, Santiago, it's a joke."  "Well, there are some things you just don't joke about." Amy harumphed, standing out of the way of the car door so she could close it. Rosa rolled her eyes as she held the umbrella out to Amy "You're such a dork." 

 

 

"You ever done this before?" Rosa asked, indicating for Arlo to jump out of the car. Amy shook her head, and suspected, while a lot of people have dogs, very few people have had the chance to handle a service dog. "Clip this onto his collar." Amy gingerly took the leash and clipped it onto Arlos' collar with her free hand. Despite being new, the leather was soft in her hands, leaving Amy wondering just how much Rosa had shelled out on this kit that was just for her. "Now all you do is hold the leash and he'll just walk along next to you." Amy rolled her eyes, suddenly feeling the anxious shyness wear off "I know that much! I might be allergic to dogs, but I have seen other people walk them before!" Rosa bit the insides of her cheek, trying desperately not to grin "But?" Amy sighed, adjusting the umbrella in her right hand and lining herself up next to Arlos' shoulders as she'd seen Rosa do before. " I know I'm not meant to ask this, but... how do I make him do all of the cool stuff he does for you?"

 

Normally, Rosa would be hugely offended by someone asking that question. But with Amy it was... different. She wanted to show her dog off. "Most of it, he'll do automatically. I don't know if he'll do all of it for you, as we've been paired for a few months now, but he might as you're holding the lead." Amy struggled to hide her disappointment. She didn't know why, but she wanted to experience, first hand, what was so great about Arlo. "But there are a few things he will definitely do for you. How much do you weigh?" Amy recoiled at the unusual question "Um.. about 137, why?" Rosa nodded, doing the math in her head "Pass me the umbrella." Amy hesitated before handing it over as Rosa nodded at short lead thing that was clipped onto Arlos' vest. "See the leather handle there?" Amy nodded, noting the intricate detail of it. "Grab onto it, and shuffle a few steps back so you're standing by his hips." Amy did as she was told, holding the leash in one hand and the strap in the other. "Am I doing it right?" Amy asked, looking up at Rosa for approval. "Yep. Some people like to hold both in the same hand but others don't. Whatever works for you." Amy grinned to herself, squeezing on the strap and running her thumb up and down the stitching.

 

"You ready?" Rosa asked, waiting for Amys' determined nod before explaining "Okay, saying his name and 'forward' will make him walk, your job is to keep standing by his hips, and do what he does. So if he stops, you stop, and so forth. Just be careful of cars pulling out and you'll be fine." Amy grinned, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Is this guiding?" Rosa shook her head "Arlo does do guide work, but you need a larger, solid handle for true guiding. This is known as forward momentum. With a few aspects of guiding thrown in because I can."

There was a pause as Amy collected herself before asking Arlo to move forward.  And he did, leaning into his vest and taking Amy straight past Rosa. Amy gasped a little at how hard he was pulling, not quite enough to pull her over, but enough to help her walk quicker. He took her in a wide D past the parked car in front of him, and then continued in a straight line, pausing and tucking his bum around Amy when he heard a car behind them. Rosa was right behind them, giving her directions on what to do, and holding the umbrella above them, but Amy was oblivious, head swirling around in the clouds as this magnificent canine beside her lead her through the parking lot.

 

"How was that?" Rosa asked when Arlo stopped himself in front of Amy at the hospital entrance. Amy nodded, a little breathless "He's so good!" Rosa smirked at that, glad her $15,000 dog was 'good'. "Don't tell his trainer that I let you do that; you're not really meant to let him do stuff for you." Amys' smile faded a little "Wait, what? Why didn't you tell me?" Rosa shrugged "I trust you. I trust Arlo. I was literally two steps behind you both at all times keeping an eye and I don't feel unwell." Amy blushed, looking down once more at the incredible Arlo. Maybe if she just pet his ears, where he was unlikely to have licked, she'd be okay? Dropping the pull strap, she moved the lead into her left hand and reached down with her right, gasping a little as her fingertips danced over his damp ears. Rosas' breath hitched, wondering if she should step in before Amy had a reaction. "He's so soft." Rosa nodded, opening her bag and digging out the wipes. "Here. Before he licks you." Amy reluctantly pulled her hand away and accepted the wipes, cleaning her hands before throwing them in the bin. "You okay?" Rosa asked, "You don't feel strange or tingly?" Amy shook her head "I'm fine, Rosa. I've not even sneezed today."  Rosa grunted in a way Amy knew meant she wasn't convinced, and, suddenly aware of how cold and wet it was out here, nodded towards the door "We should get in."  

 

Now that they were in the airlock of the hospital, out of the rain, Arlo shook himself off and Rosa collapsed the umbrella. While Amy was totally dry thanks to the shelter it had provided, Arlo had got semi-wet and Rosa was drenched. "Oh God, Rosa, I'm so sorry, I didn't thin-" Amy began, having now seen the true extent of how soaked she was, only to be cut off "Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Amy pulled a face, looking at the sodden bandage clinging to Rosas' hand "No, you're not. Why didn't you tell me you were getting wet? If I had known I wouldn't have been messing around with Arlo and I would have got you straight..." Amy trailed off as Arlo nose-bumped her leg "In." She looked up at Rosa, who was chewing through the inside of her cheeks in an attempt to not grin at the sight unfolding in front of her. "Is that?" Amy asked, looking up at Rosa "Yep." Amy blushed, looking down at Arlo again, who was looking mighty pleased with himself. "What do I do now?" Rosa paused for a moment "Normally I sit down and let him do DPT but that'll set off your allergies, so if I were you I'd settle for praise and a few deep breaths." Amy nodded, doing exactly as Rosa had asked her before looking back at her hand. "We'd better get you seen to."

Amy gripped onto Arlos' pull strap as she walked into the ER. It seemed like everyone had stopped talking in favour of turning around to stare at her and Arlo. A few were even producing phones to take pictures. "You go sit down," Amy whispered to Rosa, trying to ignore them. "You sure?" Rosa asked, "It's a big turnout tonight." Amy nodded, "I'm sure. Go sit and I'll bring over the forms and a new bandage for you." Rosa nodded, wandering off to find a seat as Amy continued on walking toward the desk, determined to get her friend the medical help she needed before she started panicking about silly things.  Surprisingly, Arlo didn't protest at this. He just acted as he always had with Rosa.

Amy stopped upon reaching the queue. They were behind an old lady and someone who appeared to be her husband, who had a burned hand, but aside from them, there was nobody else in front. Amy was trying to work out how to grab a nurses' attention before Rosa's bandage fell off when a group of nearby teens started whistling and barking at the duo. It was just irritating at first, but they were getting progressively louder, throwing pens and balled up colouring sheets at them, and the longer Amy tried to ignore them the more she wanted to snap. Arlo was taking it like a champ, though, too focused on Amy to give a toss, even when they decided to make a game out of running up and pulling his tail. 

 

 Amy didn't know why children could make her feel so scared, or why nobody around her was offering to help, but she was trying to stay calm, trying to explain that they were interfering with medical equipment (that, admittedly, wasn't hers) that they could get arrested for this, that they were hurting both her and him, and they needed to back off so he could work. They ignored her, crowding her space and harassing Arlo the more she begged them not to. The moment she moved to block him they were kicking her, calling her names and threatening to hurt her. 

And just like that, it was like school all over again, and she couldn't breathe.

 

* * *

 

"Do that again, and I'll make sure you never walk again, got it?"

Amy looked up in between ragged breaths to see Rosa holding the ringleader up against the wall, looking every bit as petrifying as she did with two hands. Pressing down momentarily on his chest, Rosa growled, digging her nails into it before releasing him. He instantly backed off somewhere where the crazy lady couldn't get to him, friends in tow, and Rosa rushed over to where Amy was sat sobbing, Arlo across her lap. He wagged his tail when he saw her, but didn't budge. "Rosa, I'm so so sorry, they-" Rosa cut Amy off with a hug, Amy tensed at first, but soon settled, nuzzling into Rosas' chest and inhaling the faint scent of coconut and whisky, mixed with just a tinge of dog that was just so ... Rosa. After a few seconds, Rosa shoved Arlo off Amys' lap. Arlo shook himself off, offended for a second as his handler pulled Amy into her lap. Amy thought about protesting for a moment, knowing Rosa hated being touched and that this was probably her idea of hell, but Rosa was warm and familiar. She had an alarming knack for this cuddly stuff and it just felt  _so_  good.

Sighing, Arlo moved in front of the two, standing watch and blocking them from any intrigued onlookers while Rosa cradled Amy in her arms, rocking her back and forth gently.  

* * *

 

After a while, Amys' sobs settled, and she shakily manoeuvred herself out of Rosas' lap, already missing the soft warm comfort of her arms, but knowing Rosa probably didn't appreciate showing so much affection. Stretching herself out, Rosa dug around in her bag, pulling out the wipes "Where did he touch?" Amy shook her head "He didn't, Rosa, it's fine." Rosa grunted, unconvinced and began wiping Amy's hands for her "He didn't lick you did he? I'm sure they'll have an epi-pen here if you need it." Amy smiled through the last few tears that drippled down her cheeks. "He just touched my lap, I didn't pet him, and he didn't lick me, so I'm fine." Rosa raised an eyebrow "You sure? He's normally pretty aggressive with the whole licking people to 'help' them." Amy nodded "He lifted his head to sniff earlier in the queue but I told him 'no' so I think he's worked out he's not allowed."

Rosa seemed content with that answer, stuffing the used wipes in the front pocket of her bag before standing up "You okay to wait here while I ask someone to put us in a side room so we don't have all these dummies staring at us?" Amy nodded, watching as Rosa wandered off to find someone before turning to Arlo, realising he might have been hurt in the commotion. He stood perfectly still while Amy ran her hands down his legs, over his feet, and then along his tail, ears, and the rest of his body, just to be safe. His two back feet were a bit swollen and sore, and he seemed a little sensitive over his 8th rib, but apart from that, he appeared to be fine.  Making a mental note to get him booked into the vet at some point if he still seemed sore, she stood up and was about to go find Rosa when she remembered that one of Arlos' tasks was to find his beloved handler. Trying to think back to how she'd seen Jake ask him, she looked into Arlos' eyes "Where's Rosa, Arlo?" The yellow lab sneezed, tail wagging as he set off to find her. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Arlo was leaning into his pull strap just that bit harder, tail whipping Amys' leg as he bumped his nose into Rosas' hip to indicate he found her. Looking down, Rosa raised an eyebrow "I see you're having fun with my dog." Amy nodded sheepishly, waiting for the verbal (or maybe even physical) reprimand that didn't come. Instead, Rosa pointed down the corridor "Nurse said room 11 was ours."

* * *

 

"In a way, I'm glad it was me who was handling Arlo." Rosa raised an eyebrow as Amy re-bandaged her hand "What? Because I can't take care of myself?" Amy shook her head "No, because Arlo is yours. I love him to pieces, but he's not mine. I'm pretty sure I'll get over this really quickly because I don't have the same level of a connection you do with him." Rosa nodded slowly. What Amy was saying made sense. Even so, she wished it was her who got beaten up instead. "I'm still sorry it happened to you. This whole thing was my fault anyway." Amy stopped bandaging Rosa and looked up "What? No! Rosa, it wasn't your fault. It was those stupid boys for not having any decency, or mine for suggesting that you-" "We're here because I agreed to let Gina set me up and I went on a date with an asshole." Amy thought about it. That was technically true. "Well... why don't we blame him then? He was the one who made you smash the glass." Rosa grunted, apparently content with that idea. "Even so, you can't let this experience put you off. Your perfect man is out there somewhere-" She trailed off, suddenly realising her mistake."Or woman." Amy nodded, her mouth going dry "Yeah... or woman." She shook her head, resuming the bandaging once more "I'm sorry, that sounded so homophobic. And misogynistic" Rosa shrugged "I get it." she paused "It's just... what was drilled into you for so long, I guess." Amy nodded, unable to stop herself gazing into Rosas' deep chestnut eyes as she glanced up "Yeah... " 

 

Amy was about to say something else when a voice behind them made them both jump. "Detective Diaz?" A tall man in his 40s' approached them, hand extended "I'm Dr Harrison, and I'll be looking after you this evening..."

 

* * *

 

 

The radiologists had let Amy and Arlo behind the screen while Rosa had the x-ray. She had been prepared to wait outside, but it was pretty cool back here, and she was glad of their kindness towards her. Rosa was sat on a plastic chair, looking bored as the large white machine over her manoeuvred itself into position. a few clicks later and they were all done, and the images popped up on the screen in front of Amy. She wasn't a medical student, but she knew by the speckles of white around Rosas' wound were a sign she was right to bring her in. 

 

"Was there glass in it?" Rosa asked once they were alone in her room. "I'm not a doctor." Rosa rolled her eyes "You're not blind either." Amy hesitated, not sure whether telling Rosa the truth would be more or less reassuring. "Maybe we should wait for Dr Harriso-" Rosa growled, "Tell me or I will draw a smiley face on one of your weird old books and you won't know which one." Amy instantly caved. "Fine! Yes, okay! There WAS glass in your hand, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Rosa groaned, the reality of probably needing to get it out again hitting her. "How convenient. " She grumbled  Amy didn't know what to say to that, so instead shuffled her chair back and lifted Arlo onto the bed to work his magic.

 *

After a few minutes, Harrison did come back, and confirmed that it did need to be removed, but he was happy to just use local anaesthetic and get it over with quickly (Rosas' words, not his). Once he'd headed off to get the supplies, Amy forced a smile and slipped her hand into Rosas'. "Both Arlo and I will stay with you, okay?" Rosa scoffed, trying to disguise the look of terror in her eyes by looking away "I'm not six. I don't need to be babied." Amy nodded, picking up Arlos' lead "Okay, well if you're sure, we'll go grab some dinner and I'll-" Rosa grabbed Amys' free hand hard and yanked her back into the uncomfortable hospital chair automatically, making Amy smirk. "Okay fine, I want you here but only because I'm not sitting here bored while they fuck around with my hand."  Amy nodded, resuming the hand holding as Harrison walked back in, armed with a tray. Rosa couldn't help but look at the syringe in it as it was set down on her bed, next to Arlo. "Actually could you remove the dog? It's just for hygiene purposes." Rosa shook her head, only just managing to growl out "Touch him and I will decapitate you." The doctor looked over at Amy, alarmed, who just shrugged "She doesn't like needles." 

Amy used her best 'normal' voice to try to distract Rosa from what was going on with her hand. It didn't work especially well, but once the needle part was over, Rosa relaxed and managed to squeeze Amys' hand right back. They stayed like that for 45 minutes as the doctor probed and prodded, searching for the remaining glass. Amy talked about mundane stuff. Arlo, work, leather jackets, bisexuality. Rosa either engaged, or sat staring at the ceiling, wishing she gave Amy more time to find her some entertainment back at the flat. Eventually, Harrison pulled away and excused himself to talk with one of his seniors.

 

"Well... fuck," Rosa grumbled, her hand still lying flat on a blue sheet, wound wide open. "Not all glass shows on Xrays anyways, so they make a habit of if they can see it, they'll remove it." Amy squeezed Rosas' hand a little tighter "Well, I've got all night and two weeks holiday still left, so I'm in no hurry." Rosa snorted "You really need to get out more, Nerd."

The ladies continued joking and teasing each other until Harrison returned, armed with a friend. Sure enough, Rosa was given two options: 1. Have a full general anaesthetic so they can look for and remove the glass properly, and stay in the hospital for a few days or 2) Go home, armed with antibiotics and painkillers, and hope nothing much comes of it. Rosa chose two as there was no way she was trusting anyone to be around her while she was unconscious, not that she admits that. She tells Amy it's because she doesn't want to spend time in hospital. Amy doesn't believe her for a second but equally doesn't argue, and instead holds Rosas' hand as they stab her yet again so they can stitch her up.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY YOU GUYS
> 
>  
> 
> I have been incredibly busy and my life has been falling apart, little by little, so I've not had a chance to write. This was meant to get published in late August, we're in mid December now so I figure it's only two and a half months late 😂😂
> 
> I am really sorry guys and I swear I will be back on soon. Im just waiting on a new laptop (I had to edit this on my phone, which I hate doing) and we will be good to go.

"Heyyy Rosa."

Rosa sniffs, wiping her eyes on her sleeve before turning to where Amy was stood in the doorway of her hospital room, a cardbord coffe cup container in one hand and Arlos' lead in the other. "Okay. Go free." She whispers to him as she drops the lead and allows Arlo to charge over to his handler. 

"Nice terminology there Santiago." Amy blushed, turning to close the door as Rosa invited her dog up onto her stomach with a grunt. "He was really good, ate all his dinner." Rosa scoffed "He's a labrador. If he doesn't eat everything in sight something's wrong." She pauses "Are you okay? Did you use the wipes I gave you?" Amy rolls her eyes but nods as she pulls up a chair with her free hand "Yeah, I'm good." She holds up the carbord cup holder in her hand " I got herbal tea.The barista said chamomile was calming but I didn't know if you liked chamomile so I just got Peppermint because Charles told me you like that the best."

"Thanks." Rosa forced a small smile as she took the cup off Amy and sipped at it. Amy watched in silence, not daring to comment on Rosa's unusually soft voice or her puffy red eyes.

"What did you get?"  Rosa asks, far too aware of Amy's eyes on her as they drink. "Hot chocolate. But before you say anything, I know Its not a "proper" drink, but I don't have caffeine after 8 because otherwise I don't sleep, so there." Amy sat back in her chair, seemingly satisfied with her defense as Rosa rolled her eyes, biting back a smile "Nerd."

The conversation  dies down quickly as it came, and the only noise that could be vaguely interpreted as sound would be the faint chatter of the ER waiting room at the end of the corridor. Rosa didn't normally mind silence but today was different. She was alone with Amy in a hospital and she needed to hear things to keep her from going insane. "This is good for hospital tea." She says after a while, making Amy instantly perk up "It's not. I drove into town because I figured you would want space after-"

"Yup."  Rosa pops the p on the end of the word, as if daring Amy to push the subject. 

Amy dips her head, surrendering at once. "Sorry. I know I didn't ask permission before I took Arlo off site." Rosa paused, turning to look at Amy as her free hand drew anxious circles on the far side of Arlo before shrugging. "I don't mind." There was another long pause. Amy swallows the last of her hot chocolate and clears her throat. "So nurse says we're free to go once you've signed the discharge forms." She pauses, thinking carefully before opening her mouth again "So do you want to come back to mine, or?"

Rosa conciders this. She likes Amy. She likes spending time with Amy. Amy is nice and kind and would no doubt take time off work to look after her.

"Nah, I'm good." Amy struggles to hide the upset on her face as she recoils "Oh. Right, yeah. Okay. Of course. Why would you stay at mine? That's weird-" she's in the middle of a fake laugh when Rosa cuts her off "You can drive us home though. I'm not taking my chances in an Uber with Arlo this late."

* * *

 

 

Rosa rolled over onto her right side for the 21st time that night, accidentally kicking Arlo in the side, not that he cared. Her left side was always her prefered side for sleeping on, but her hand hurt too much to let that happen. It had been a week since the hospital, and her wound still wasn't fully closed - the doctors sewed up part of it to stop her having a giant ass hole in her hand, but had decided to leave it open to prevent infection being 'trapped' in the wound. Which, if they had asked Rosa, was a load of bullshit, but she was stuck with it now. Forcing her eyes open, she glanced at her clock.  3:27 am. Sighing, Rosa shuffled down under the covers and closed her eyes.

 

* * *

 

"Rosa, it's Amy."

 

"Rosa, let me in or I'm assuming you're septic and calling you an ambulance."

 

"Rosa!"

 

Amy sighed, pulling out her phone as her heart pounded against her chest. "Okay fine, I'm calling you an ambulance." Sighing, Amy typed in the three digits, her finger hovering over the 'dial' button as she debated whether or not it would be considered wasteful to call them. Probably not.

Luckily for whichever poor EMT was going to have the displeasure of treating Rosa Diaz,  a series of loud crashing noises that seemed to be getting closer, cut her off.

Finally, the lock rattled and the door was opened, revealing a very frazzled looking Rosa. "How the fuck do you know where I live?" Amy was about to respond when Arlo crashed into her legs, his entire body trembling with sheer excitement.

"Arlo!" She yelped as he knocked her to the ground and bounced on top of her. "Hey!" Rosa snapped, seizing her dog by his collar and hauling him off Amy. "Bad dog!" Arlo whined, tail fucking between his legs as Rosa pointed inside her appartment "On your mat."

Arlo hesitates for a second but eventually decides to listen to his handler and slinks off to where his low-level bed was stood in the corner of the living room. 

Turning back to Amy, Rosa offers her a hand  "Did he lick you?" Amy shakes her head, "No, I'm fine," she mutters, accepting the offer of help and pulling herself up with a grimace. "Ew! Why is your hand... Wet?" Amy looks down at her own hand and her stomach instantly sinks. "When was the last time you changed the bandage on your hand?" Rosa's already inside her apartment, picking out a beer from the fridge "Want a drink?" Amy shakes her head and walks through the door, closing it behind her. "Rosa?" She frowns as her friend walks towards her, armed with two beers "Why are you drinking when you're on antibiotics?"

Rosa freezes, seeing the remnants of blood on Amy's hand and realising her own was hurting far more than it had been. Fuck. Over in the corner Arlo whined,  standing up and threatening to break his down stay in favor of alerting. Rosa glares and signals for him to lie back down, which he reluctantly does. "Are you sure he didn't lick you?" Amy scowls, "Don't try to turn this around on me. Show me your hand." Rosa sighs, awkwardly shifting in place before deciding to set the bottles down on the island and show Amy her hand. "I must've bust it when I was helping you up. I just need a new bandage and I'll be fine." 

Amy goes silent for a moment as Rosa collects one of the beers and pushes past her, slumping onto a nearby couch and taking a sip.The two ignore each other for a moment before Rosa speaks up "You just going to stand there like a weirdo or are you going to  tell me what you came here for?" Amy shakes herself out of her daze "Where do you keep your first aid kit?" Rosa snorts, lifting the bottle in her (good) hand to her lips "What makes you think I have one?" Amy rolls her eyes "You were a medical student, Rosa. I know you have one." There was a long pause in which Amy wondered if she'd do better searching the entire apartment top to bottom than trying to prize information out of Rosa. "Bathroom cupboard. First door on the right."

* * *

"Turn and face me," Amy instructed as she perched herself on Rosas' sofa and unlocked the green box. "Who said I'd given you permission to play doctor?" Amy stops in her tracks and looks up at Rosa "You don't want me to look after you?" Rosa scoffs, turning to take another slurp of her beer, but the bottle is plucked out of her hands before she has a chance. "No drinking!" Rosa scowls, but doesn't try to snatch the bottle out of Amys' hand. Amy smirks, the pride annoyingly obvious on her face as  she sets the beer down out of Rosas' reach and turns back to the first aid kit. "You're still not bandaging my hand for me, Santiago." Amy nods, setting the green box on the floor and pulling out her phone. "Okay. In which case I'm calling an ambulance."

Rosa automatically swipes the phone out of Amys' hand, sending it flying across the room, straight into the wall, causing her friend to yelp and rush over to it. "This was brand new!" Rosa shrugged "I'll buy you a new one." Amy's frown deepens "And?" Rosa groans, "Fine. I'll let you sort my hand."

* * *

The neatly arranged contents inside of the first aid kit were just about enough to give Amy a brain orgasm - everything was nearly arranged in their respective little pouches, except three boxes, which looked oddly familiar.

"Are these your meds?" Amy glanced up at Rosa. "Yup." Once again, she popped the p on the end of the word, refusing to look even in the general direction of the awful things. Amy frowned, reading each box "You've not taken your antibiotics, or your pain meds, just...tylenol." She looked back up at her friend "What's going on?" Rosa sighed, signalling for Arlo to stay on his bed once more as he looked up, sniffing the air. "I forgot." Amy raised an eyebrow, knowing full well she was lying but indulged her anyway. "Okay, well you can take them now." She set the boxes on Rosas' lap and stood up, wondering over to the kitchen "What soft drink do you have with them or are you okay with just water?"

Rosar growled, picked up all the boxes, stood up, barged past Amy and opened the bin; something she should have done the moment she got home after that hospital trip. "No, Rosa, wait!" Rosa stopped, but didn't remove her foot from the bins peddle. "Just let me do your hand first. Then we can talk about meds, okay?" 

* * *

"Oh wow, yeah, this needs changing," Amy whispered, examining the bandage with gloved hands. Picking at the edge of the tape, she began to babble "So, what have you been doing with yourself?" Rosa grunted, trying not to suck her teeth too much as the bandage was slowly pulled away. She waited a few more seconds before she lost her patience. "Just rip it off, it'll be fine." Amy didn't take Rosas' advice but did split the difference. Wrapping her finger around the end, she quickly unravelled it, ignoring the fact that each layer was stickier and bloodier than the last, until she got down to the final bit. It had stuck a little to her wound, so it took a bit of peeling and peroxide but it was soon off.

"You okay?" Rosa grunted in response as Amy winced at the obviously infected wound. Grabbing another cotton ball, she doused it in peroxide and slowly began to wipe the gunk off,  only using each ball for a few strokes before throwing it in the bin. "How long has it been like this?" Rosa shrugged "I don't know. Couple days maybe." Amy sighed "Why didn't you take your antibiotics when you saw it was becoming infected?" The was a pause while Rosa tried to figure out whether or not to answer honestly. "I just... I don't like taking unfamiliar meds."  "What, in case they affect your judgment?" Amy asked, thinking back to the week prior and remembering Rosa saying something about not liking being out of it. "Something like that."  Amy paused, focusing on an especially gunky bit before turning her attention back to the conversation at hand. "What about if I stay over? " Rosa considered the offer, her hand really did hurt, and she knew rest always did recovery good. "Okay, but this is just a trial. If they make me loopy I'm not taking them again tommorow."Amy looked up from Rosas' hand, "And you let me take you to hospital, right?" 

Rosa shook her head "They'll only give me the same stuff iv." She paused, realising Amy wasn't going to let her off with terms like that "But I will go to the doctor to see if there's an alternative." Amy nodded slowly, knowing that if she pushed Rosa there was a good chance she'd be kicked out, and she didn't want that, so she agreed.

* * *

 

Taping the final end to the main portion of the bandage, Amy smiled, admiring her work "There! What do you think?" Rosa grunted  "Wonky but not bad." Amy nodded, satisfied with that answer given it came from Rosa and started packing the contents of the first aid kit away. "If you take your meds now, I can finish packing this up and then we can do movies and takeout?" Rosa nodded, reaching for her beer, only to have her hand slapped away by an Amy who hadn't even looked up from the green box in front of her "Come on, Rosa you know better than that."

Sighing, Rosa stood up and headed to the fridge, picking out a coke. By the time she turned around, Amy was lost in her organising, cheeks flushed a happy pink shade.  At work, Amy always made  a point of maintaining posture, but now she was resting comfortably on Rosas' sofa, legs curled under her body. There was a definite frizz to her chocolate hair and the top few buttons on her blouse had been left unbuttoned, but for once, she didn't seem especially bothered.

 

It was Amys' dark hazel eyes flicking up to meet Rosas' that broke her trance. "Okay, that's all sorted, do you have the number for takeout?" Nodding, Rosa grabbed a couple leaflets off the side and carried them down to Amy "What do you fancy?" As she slumped down onto the comfy leather below her, Rosa found her legs bucking under her in exactly the same fashion as Amys'. "You choose. It's your place." Rosa shook her head, pressing the leafelets into Amys' hand "I don't care; I like them all." Taking the leaflets with one hand, Amy pushed Rosas' meds towards her with her other hand, raising an eyebrow.  _Fair deal?_ Rolling her eyes, Rosa picked both boxes off the table and opened them. She hated tablets. She hated the way she had to put them on her tongue first so she got to taste the bitter contents before she could down her drink and swallow. She hated the inevitable reaching that followed, the mental images that popped into her mind and refused to go away as she desperately tried to rid of both the images and taste. But the worst part was the feeling of the unknown, the sinking tingly feeling that always came with taking her other (admittedly PRN) meds, and the knowledge of exactly what could happen if it affected her like they did.

But tonight, Amy was here, and Rosa threw them against the back of her throat, downing the entire bottle of cola in her hand, humming softly to herself to keep the mental images at bay, before daring to pull her lips away from the bottle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudus! They mean the world to me and keep me writing!

**Author's Note:**

> *inserts shameless beg for kudus and comments here*


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